Congress in disarray and shutdown looms as Trump, Musk eye spending deal

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House Speaker Mike Johnson defended the 1,500-page stopgap bill.

The possibility of a U.S. government shutdown has become more likely after President-elect Donald Trump called on Republican lawmakers to reject a bipartisan funding bill.

Trump urged Congress to scrap the deal and pass a simplified bill. His intervention followed strong criticism of the bill by tech billionaire Elon Musk.

Rep. Steve Scalise, the Republican majority leader in the House, indicated Wednesday evening that the bill was dead after Trump denounced it.

The short-term funding bill will need to pass Congress by the end of the week to prevent many federal government offices from closing their doors starting Saturday.

The bill, known as a continuing resolution, is necessary because Congress never passed a budget for fiscal year 2025, which began Oct. 1.

Unless Congress acts, government services ranging from the National Park Service to the Border Patrol will begin shutting down this weekend.

In posts on his social media site, Truth Social, Trump threatened to help unseat “any Republican who is stupid enough to” vote for the current version of the bill, which was unveiled Tuesday by leaders of the House and the Senate.

“If Democrats threaten to shut down the government unless we give them everything they want, then it’s a bluff,” he said.

He also called, in a joint statement with new Vice President JD Vance, for Congress to raise the debt ceiling, which determines how much the government can borrow to pay its bills, and to limit the bill to focus only on temporary spending and disaster relief. .

The 1,500-page bill included more than $110 billion ($88 billion) in emergency disaster aid and $30 billion ($23 billion) in aid to farmers. It also included lawmakers' first pay raise since 2009, federal funds to rebuild a collapsed bridge in Baltimore, health care reforms and provisions to prevent hotels and live event venues from to engage in misleading advertising.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre released a statement after Trump came out against the bill, saying: “Republicans need to stop playing politics with this bipartisan deal or they will harm to American workers and will create instability across the country. »

“Triggering a damaging government shutdown would harm families,” President Joe Biden's spokesperson continued, adding: “A deal is a deal. Republicans should keep their word.”

When asked by CNN Wednesday evening whether the existing agreement had been officially scrapped, Rep. Scalise replied, “Yes.”

He added that “there is no new agreement at the moment” and that “there are still a lot of negotiations and conversations going on.”

It's unclear exactly how Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson plans to proceed.

Mr. Musk, who Trump has charged with cutting government spending in his incoming administration, has lobbied hard against the existing deal.

On Wednesday evening, Mr. Musk posted on X: “Your elected officials have heard you and now the terrible bill is dead. The voice of the people has triumphed.”

There have been 21 U.S. government shutdowns or partial shutdowns in the past five decades – the longest occurring during Trump's first term, when the government was shut down for 35 days.

Watch: How does a government shutdown impact the United States?

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